Literacy – Spanning North America :: Wexford Co MI :: Downey CA :: Langley BC

Literacy: Spanning North America     

Using Education To Unlock The Jail Door

New Wexford Co. Jail GED program educating inmates, hopefully ending recidivism

Cadillac News: 12.12.2018 by Rick Charmoli

Edward Gray is trying to make the best out of a bad situation.

Gray is serving a jail sentence from a recent conviction, and he is taking that time to help ensure he doesn't come back to the Wexford County Jail. The 31-year-old is using his time in jail to help further his education and hopefully earn his GED diploma.

"I dropped out of school, got addicted to drugs and other things got important. Now I'm clean and sober and I realize, what really needs to be done," he said.

Gray admitted he was scared when he took the first test because he didn't know what to expect. That test's subject matter was social studies. Gray passed and he moved on to the second test. This time he tackled science.

Even though it was a more difficult subject, he said he felt more at ease than he did during the first test. He now is preparing to take the third test sometime this week or the week after. That subject will be English. He will then take a math test, and if he passes these next two tests, he will earn his GED diploma.

"It can't not help me to have a GED (diploma). If I can buckle down and do this, I can buckle down and do a lot of other stuff. I think it will help me stay out of here. I really believe that," Gray said of his current surroundings. "I don't have a good name or reputation, so if I can do it, anyone can do it."

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. . . partners include the Wexford County Sheriff's Department, Baker College of Cadillac, the Wexford/Missaukee County Michigan Department of Corrections, Michigan Works!, and Cadillac Area Adult Literacy Council.  READ MORE >>

@DowneyLibrary

Downey Library Volunteers Thanked With Brunch

Downey Patriot: 12.10.2018 by Lorine Parks

“Volunteers make the library what it is,” said Claudia Daley, literacy coordinator who heads the Children’s Room as well as supervises the volunteer programs at the Downey City Library.

She’s usually right, but this time Claudia was wrong: she is what makes the library what it is, a warm and welcoming community center. Just ask anyone who is involved, for example, in the Adult Literacy Tutoring Program, teaching adults to read, often in a second language. Claudia trains the volunteers for six weeks in phonetics, before they meet their pupils.

Some of these volunteers have been tutoring for years, and that means a serious commitment of time on a regular basis every week.

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What will become of these and the many other functions that the volunteers help with, when the library closes next March for 18 months revamping? “We are planning ways to keep our meetings and classes and tutoring going,” Claudia says, “using other city facilities and helpful local organizations.” But the next holiday brunch like this one for volunteers will probably not occur until 2020.  READ MORE >>

Langley Literacy

Literacy Group Calls On Community For Aid

Wrap-A-Read program owes 15 years of literacy success to Langley residents

Langley Times: 12.13.2018 by Alex Wilks

Langley Literacy Network (LLN) is inviting residents to take two hours out of an upcoming weekend (Dec. 17 to 19) to come out and volunteer during the annual Wrap-a-Read days event.

For the past 15 years, LLN has been committed to providing literacy programs for adults, families and youth in the Langley area and their yearly Wrap-A-Read program has given children the gift of literacy, explained Kailey Erickson, literacy outreach coordinator with LLN.

“Our volunteers are the heart of our program and it is because of their contributions that the program is so successful,” Erickson said.

“All of our volunteers believe in the power of literacy to transform lives.”

An event that started off small – only providing books to babies and toddlers – has grown into a fundraiser that serves an average of 1,700 children per year.

Naturally, that means more volunteers are always needed, she added.

Last year 41 volunteers donated 156 hours of their time helping families select the perfect books for their child’s reading levels and interests.

“Access to books is an important part of developing literacy skills, and this program helps children have access to books,” she noted.

Community donations and sponsorship from Langley Christmas Bureau, Fraser Valley Regional Library, and the City of Langley have allowed LLN to provide every family registered with the bureau a brand-new book to gift wrap for their children.  READ MORE >>